Freight car unloading machine



May 27, 1952 T. A. CLARKE FREIGHT CAR UNLOADING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 26, 1949 Fwy A. Warm May 27, 1952 T. A. CLARKE FREIGHT CAR UNLOADING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 26, 1949 Inventor Troy A. Clarke T. A CLARKE FREIGHT CAR UNLOADING MACHINE May 27, 1952 Filed Sept. 26, 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Inventor Troy A Clarke wi mag Attorneys Patented May 27, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FREIGHT CAR UNLOADING MACHINE Troy A. Clarke, Greensboro, N. 0.

Application September 26, 1949, Serial No. 117,811

' Q (Cl. 214-44) 6 Claims.

' 1 This invention comprises novel and useful improvements in a freight car unloading machine,

and more specifically pertains to a portable conveyor of the endless bucket type which is adapted to be supported upon and travel along the sides of freight cars of the open or gondola type for unloading material therefrom.

The principal objects of this invention are to provide an improved portable freight car unloader for gondola or any other type of flat bottom freight cars, and which may be readily adjusted to accommodate itself to cars having different heights of sides, together with improved means for raising or lowering a carriage containing an endless conveyor for effectively engaging the material within a car.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a freight car unloader as set forth in the foregoing object, which shall be self-powered,

obviating the necessity for external connections with sources of power.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide an improved freight car unloader as set forth in the preceding objects wherein the unloading operation may be continuously performed while the unloader is being adjusted longitudinally or vertically of a car.

Yet another object is to improve the operating mechanism of an unloader of the character set forth in the foregoing paragraphs by effecting a more uniform and vibrationless transmission of power from the speed reduction in an improved manner in the power transmission assembly.

These, together with various ancillary features and objects of the invention which will later became apparent as the following description proceeds, are attained by the present invention, a preferred embodiment of which has been illustrated by way of example only in the accompany ing drawings, wherein:

Referring now more specifically to the ao-.

.1 l0 Figure 1 is a side elevational view showing the companying drawings, wherein like numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views, there is seen at H] a portion of a railway freight car of the so-called gondola or flat bottom car type provided with the customary side walls 12 open at their upper end and provided with an angle iron member M providing a laterally extending flange.

The present device makes use of the horizontal flange of the angle iron member I4 as a track for supporting the unloader for easy longitudinal movement along a freight car and by appropriate auxiliary tracks, not shown, and in themselves forming no part of this invention, along a series of such freight cars.

The device itself consists of a frame which may be of various constructions, and in the embodi- ,ment chosen to illustrate the principles of the invention includes angle iron legs forming vertical beams and corner posts l6 of a substantially square or rectangular frame.

The frame further includes longitudinally extending side beams l8 and transverse beams 20 rigidly attached to the upper ends of the leg members [6 to form a skeleton framework therewith. Suitable diagonal bracing members22 are provided to impart rigidity to the construction.

A carriage, indicated generally by the numeral 24, is mounted within the frame for vertical sliding movement upon the interior surfaces of the angle iron leg members l6 which thus constitute support rails. This carriage preferably includes angle iron corner posts 26which slidably engage each of the rails composed of the leg merribers 16, these corner posts being rigidly connected into a unitary carriage assembly by transverse beams 28, and longitudinal beams 30.

Rigidly secured to the framework of the carriage, and extending transversely thereof, are a pair of triangular frame members 32, each disposed in a vertical plane, and constituting supporting frames for a bucket type of endless conveyor.

At its apices, each of the triangular frames 32 is provided with suitable journals for rotatably supporting parallel shafts 34, 36, and 38, provided with suitable sprocket wheels 40, 42 and 44, over which are entrained endless chains 46 form ing parts of an endless conveyor provided with open buckets 48 connected between these chains. As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the lower flight of the endless conveyor is disposed in a horizontal plane below the supporting framework of the carriage members so that the buckets will be disposed beneath the carriage for'operative engage- 3 ment with the material with which the freight car is loaded.

Mounted upon a suitable supporting platform upon the carriage and between the sides thereof is a self-contained power plant such as a gasoline motor 59, of any desired capacity such as two or three horsepower.

This motor is connected with the conveyor as by a chain drive indicated at 52, which may be attached to a sprocket wheel 56 carried by a lay shaft '55 journaled in the frame members 32. A reduction gearing connects this lay shaft with one of the conveyor shafts such as 3d. Obviously this reduction gearing may take various forms, that illustrated serving to transmit the power uniformly to both ends of the driven conveyor shaft 34. The reduction gearing includes intermediate shafts El and 59 and parallel gear trains El, 63, 65, and 6? connect the ends of shafts E5, 57, 59 and 34.

A suitable discharge trough or spout 56 of any desired construction is mounted upon the carriage and braced thereon as by members 58, this spout extending through an open side of the supporting frame for vertical movement therebetween as the carriage is raised or lowered.

In order to effectively control the raising or lowering of the carriage, a pair of parallel axles Bi] and 62 are journaled in the top frame members 20, and one of these axles, such as that indicated at 6B, is provided with a hand wheel 64. The axle 68, as shown in Figure 2, is provided with a gear 66 which meshes with a gear 68 carried by the other axle 62 whereby, upon rotation of axle 6G by the hand wheel 6 the axle 62 will be rotated by means of the gear 58.

At its other extremity, the axle E56 is provided with a gear or ratchet wheel 10, as shown in Figure 3, which is engageable by a ratchet dog 12 pivoted to the frame, as at M, and provided with a spring means 76 for urging the dog into looking engagement with the gear 79, whereby the axle 62 is prevented from rotating in one direction.

Adj acenteach end, the axle 62 is provided with a pair of drums or winches l8 and 80, to which are secured flexible cables 821 and 84, respectively. These cables, in turn, are entrained over guide pulleys 86 and 88 journaled upon the frame members 29 adjacent the legs 15. Ends of these cables are attached to the carriage as by means of the frame members 28 thereof, adjacent the engagement of the carriage with the guide rails.

It will now be seen that when the hand wheel 54 is rotated, the carriage will be raised by the winding of the cables 82 and 84 about their respective winches. The ratchet means will effectively prevent lowering of the carriage once the same has been raised, until the ratchet dog '12 has been positively disengaged from the ratchet ear 10.

Provision is made for adjustably mounting the unloader upon the flange of the I-beam M at the top of the side of the freight car, and this means is indicated more clearly in Figure 3. The leg members it are provided with sets of apertures 86, which are spaced vertically of the leg members for adjustably and vertically positioning support brackets 88 having laterally extending stub axles 9i). Rotatably mounted on these axles are rollers 92, the axles and rollers being positioned to cause the latter to ride upon the horizontal surface or flange of the I-beam 14. In

cars having different heights of side walls, it is merely necessary to remove the bolts holding the brackets 88 and position the same in any of the vertically spaced series of apertures 86.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will be readily understood. The unloader will be applied to the angle iron members 14 in any desired manner, with the rollers resting thereon.

By manipulating the hand wheel 64, the carriage may be raised or lowered so that the buckets 48 of the conveyor may engage the upper sur face of the material contained within the freight car. Any suitable receptacle, such as a truck or the like, may be disposed beneath the spout 56, and the engine 50 started by any suitable means. Through the agency of the sprocket gear 52, it being understood that a manually operating clutch can be provided to facilitate the control of the conveyor, the conveyor lifts material from the freight car and discharges the same u on the spout 56. During this operation, it will be seen that the wheel 64 may be manipulated without interfering with the operation of the conveyor, to raise or lower the same to more effectively and completely handle the material within the car. At the same time, the conveyor may be moved longitudinally of the freight car by means of its supporting rollers.

As will be readily understood, the invention may be employed to unload fiat bottomed railway cars of such material as coal, grain, sand, lime, limestone, and crushed gravel. To facilitate the use of the device with different materials, it is contemplated that scoops or buckets of different sizes and shapes shall be interchangeably carried by the conveyor chains.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the invention will be apparent and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art after a consideration of the foregoing specification and accompanying drawings, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction shown and described. Accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus disclosed and described the invention, what is claimed as new is as follows:

1. An unloader comprising a supporting frame having an open bottom end and having vertical guide rails therein, a carriage slidably mounted on said rails for vertical movement, an endless bucket conveyor rotatably supported on said carriage for rotation in a vertical plane and having a horizontal flight extending beneath said carriage, a discharge spout on said carriage for receiving material discharged, by said conveyor, means carried by said frame for adjustably rais ing or lowering said carriage and conveyor, and means for operating said conveyor.

2. The combination of claim 1 including an opening extending vertically in said frame, said spout extending through said opening.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said frame has a plurality of vertical legs, a bracket vertically adjustable upon each of said legs, a stub axle extending laterally of said bracket, a supporting roller journaled on said axle.

4. The combination of claim 1 wherein the first-mentioned means comprises parallel horizontal shafts'journaled in said frame above said carriage, gearing connecting said shafts, means for applying a rotative force to one shaft, a winch fixed on the other shaft, a cable connecting said winch to said carriage.

5. The combination of claim 1 including guide pulleys on said frame, said cable being entrained over said pulley and secured to said carriage adjacent said rails.

6. The combination of claim 1 wherein said last means comprises a gasoline engine mounted on said frame, a driving connection between said engine and conveyor.

TROY A. CLARKE.

6 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Gregg Sept. 9, 1902 Smith Jan. 12, 1909 Webb Apr. 16, 1918 Gawlett July 16, 1918 

